Long Haul with an almost 14mth old

Right, well as the title suggests we are about to do a long haul flight to the UK.
I am going alone with MJ and i thought that i was fine with it, but last night i had a nightmare about it.

I know that people hate it when babies are on the plane, we in our younger days use to pray we were not seated next to a baby... but thats going to be me now.

The flight leaves Melb at midnight, so i will try and keep her up as mush as possible without creating a cranky baby, 8 hours later we arrive at Malaysia... there we have a 2.5hr stop over (where i plan to let her run and run and run) then its back on the plane for 14hours.

MJ is usually a good girl and doesnt really cry... BUT she HATES sitting still.
I am worried about her being on my lap the whole time (she will be too big for the bassinet)
I am worried that people will be annoyed at me continually letting her walk up and down the plan (i figure this is better than making her sit still and her crying)
and i am worried that she wont sleep.

basically i am just worried about it full stop!!! i think if DH was going i wouldnt worry so much as there would be 2 of us, but hes not, so i just have to get over it.

Not worried about the landing and take offs as i am still BF - so that should help

Anyone done a long haul with a toddle of similar age?
Any tips

:bump:

oh hun you will be suprised at how well shewill behave.

we ook my DD when she was 11 to fiji, granted only 4 hours, but she was good.

she ran up and down and loved looking out the windows, u will have some older ladies and men who will treat he like their grand child, and you will be suprised at how many other kids will be on the flight
as for an isle seat though so its easier to get up and down
if she likes watching tv she will loove it as constant cartoons and funny stuff

take her fav toys and books and some food to much on
the aircrew are great aswell
who are you flying with?

they have colouring packs and all sorts of stuff.

but remember if your not stressed she wont play up :D
enjoy your trip

I flew to London with Yasin when he was about that age.
Ask at check in to be seated next to empty seats and as soon as you can walk get your DH to get up and see if he can find an empty row. If you can get enough space so that your DD can lie down fully stretched out she'll sleep much beter.
Lots of small snacks are great because they will keep her busy. You can take fruit on the plane but you may have to dump it at your destination depending on its quarantine rules so only enough to eat in the sky.
Take a favourite blankie, toys, dummy (whatever comfort item she has) and a spare in case one gets dropped in the middle of the night because things move for miles under seats because the plane is always on a bit of an angle and crawling around under your fellow passenger's legs looking for a small object is really no fun.
Take a change of clothes for you as well as her because if she throws up on you or has a pooslosion you don't want to wear it all the way to Heathrow.
Throw away your ideas of travelling light - my cabin baggage bag is the biggest I can get away with these days. I put bags with-in the bag so that it's easy to find stuff (zip-lock is your friend) and put my stuff in the front pocket.
If she likes being read to take some books (a couple of old favourites and a new one too). One or two small toys are good. I buy a new toy in the shop at the airport because the search for the toy keeps my boys busy in the time between clearing immigration and boarding.
In the spirit of optimism I always take a book for myself just in case both the boys sleep and I can read it. On my last flight I actually managed it. We had 2 empty rows behind us so I grabbed them and lay a baby down on each and they went to sleep - best flight ever!
IMO a long haul journey is a good time to chuck some rules out the window in the interests of a peaceful flight for all.
You'll be fine.

Thanks guys for the tips,
Brontide, No DH on the flight, going alone, so thats where a lot of my concern stems from.
I have bought a massive bag that i am going to use for her stuff.
Great tip for the change of clothes... We have always been in cloth, but for the plane we will use sposies, so i dont know how well the will go, as far as poo-tainment!!!

She doesnt like TV - she is very interested in people though, so hopefully we have some grandparent types nearby as she will befriend anyone!

As the flights are so cheap atm, i am just concerned that the planes will be full

It is harder on your own. I flew from the UK to Australia alone and it was much harder than flying the other way with someone else.
Make sure you tell the hosty that you're alone. On the Dubai - Sydney flight I was really confused because the hosties kept giving me wierd looks when I asked them to do stuff and I couldn't understand why they weren't being really helpful like the hosties on the first leg - it was only towards the end of the flight that they realised that I wasn't travelling with the guy I was seated next to and they suddenly got more helpful and offered to look after him while I used the bathroom and so on.
If I'd been smart enough to tell them that I was alone at the beginning I would have had an easier flight.

THanks,
I will make sure that they are aware that we are travelling solo... you know the other thing i keep thinking about... it was having to take her to the bathroom with me and how disgusting they get, with all the men that think their penisis are far longer than they actually are and pee all over the floor.. its so gross!!! i was thiniking about how i was going to try and keep her out of it, but idf the hosty's will hold her that will be soooo much better!

sj - having flown w poopy 3 times, it gets harder as tehy get older. as you know i last flew w him oct/nov, and it was hard as going up was a day flight and he was so wriggly. the night flights were amazing he just slept thru even after we landed and got thru immigration.

they crew on MH are amazing. they often ask the person next to you to move. i only had one idiot who didnt want to move. other times i had the next 2 seats to myself. when we flew to m'sia in oct, poopy was so so wriggly but for some of the flight, maybe for 10/15 mins i was able to put him in the seat next to me and tie.. i mean put the seatbelt on him for a bit. my arms were so painful then. i also found going to the toilet hard, i took him in with me. it;s hard when it;s so tiny. but the crew can look after mj if you do need to go to the loo.
at thsi age they also serve them kids meals. i have booked a kids meal which is a smaller version of the adult meal for poopy when we go to msia in aug. the other meal they give is nuggets and fries which i dont want him to have. you can ask them if you havent already. im also taking my own meals for him just in case. lots of water too.

i found that flying nov and to brisbane in dec, his ears didnt bother him as much as when we flew in june last yr when was just 4mths. i think their ears get better. i bf-ed in june on take off.
but the last couple of times, he was eitehr already asleep as it was a night flight and it didnt bother him, and when he was awake there was so much going on it didnt seem to bother him either. i still got ready to bf him but he wasnt interested. also had some toys for him to suck on, and his sippy cup but he wasnt interested and the take off/landing didnt bother him.

they do get bored easily and all the toys i took didnt help. what kept him occupied for the longest time was some paper cups from the loo. (i took ones that were futher in the cilinder) he enjoyed playing w those!

yes, he wont sit in the bassinet either, i can only put him there when he's alseep.
i walked w him a bit along the aisle, but in nov he was still crawling.. so he wasnt so mobile and was ok. it will be harder now as both mj and poopy are walking and want to be moving..

i have seen some older kids on the planes, abt 1.5 and 2 yr olds and they all were very well-behaved. the crew come to talk to us and entertain the babies too.

i totally understand how worried you are. i was so worried the first time we flew i didnt sleep for days.

oh are you bringing your own stroller? the airport has a limited amt and its very hard to get one fr them. we pushed our stroller right to the door and they take it away and give it to us when we land.

if mj is awake when you land in msia and she's restless, you can walk with her along the gate, there are lots of shops, and also there's a train inside the building that takes you to the ohter side where immigration is. you could ride in the train, takes 5 minutes, and come back again without having to go thru immigration etc.

Thanks Prama,

I am going to take Mums stroller - one of the cheaper fold up ones, i dont think i am allowed to wheel my P&T's right up to the door (what did you have?)

Great suggestion about the train, when we are in Malaysia, i know that this sounds mean, but i am going to wake her if she is sleeping and make her move, she is usually pretty good if she is woken, but i think that it is fairer on her that she sleeps on the plane than other places kwim

i have booked a Child's meal for her, i wouldnt be keen on the nuggets and fries either - i will check on that one as that is not something that i would think will help her quieten down... good food that she devours helps her sleep and be content, stuff that is full of preservatives and sugars, well, i know what she will be like and i dont think that there will be many on the plane that will appreciated it! Great point, i will check that with them
I am planning on taking some fruit, saltanas, rice crackers and other things to nibble on, should i take something more substantial do you think?
thanks again

sj - we got those little foldable strollers that we got fr Target for abt $40. it's light and easy. yeah our other pram was just too bulky and not practical.
you'll have to fold it and put it thru the x-ray machine. it's good that mj can walk now. i had trouble folding it and trying carry lakshman and put the bags thru etc. the staff in m'sia were quite helpful and helped w all that.

yes, no way i want to give him nuggets and fries, he has never had any and i dont want to introduce junk food into his diet. esp not crap on the plane where it just sits in your tummy.

maybe take a proper solid meal that she enjoys? just in case she doesnt like the food they give?
i took one of those thermal food bag thingies i got fr kmart. it had two compartments, it came w a tupperware in the bottom and the top was empty. i carry that around when we are out. i have his food in the bottom, a tupperware and maybe a small jar of fruit etc. and in the top i can fit his utensils, nibbles and his water and milk sippy cups. yeah, her milk as well. im sure the plane will give some cow's milk but you might want to carry a small carton w you.

dont worry abt liquids on planes, when they see you w a bub, they are very lenient.

in sydney, when you get to the x-ray after immigration, they let you go to a special x-ray lane for ppl w wheelchairs etc. so you dont have to rush w the other crowd.

Thanks Prama,

Dont need to worry about Milk as she is still on mine, and drinks water the rest of the time...
Think that i will look at one of those thermal bags from Kmart - sounds good... i assume that they would be able to heat food, so i could bring it cold i reckon.

I was wondering about liquids, i knew that they were strict on that since i flew last (3 years ago)

Wonder if Melb has a special lane for us too???

What toys should i pack - My sister said nothing with a noise - as if i needed to be told that!!! ;)

yup, they will warm food up for you. they also serve you first before all theother passengers :D

i had some soft books, those rings, he likes them and a few this and that. but he got bored very easily.
he enjoyed the paper cup. this time im going to bring a new toy, so maybe that might keep him interested fora bit. maybe you could try a new toy? something that doesnt roll away and keeps them busy. i dont know what tho.. lakshman thot it was great fun to throw toys from my lap and i had to hold him and bend down and look under the seats!

just posted basically the same question else where in the forum and just found this thread, DD will be 9 months when we fly to the uk...just me no DH, im quite worried aswell but was helpfull reading this thread!! some good ideas!
I have thought about filling a few little bags (like makeup bags or purses) with new and interesting little things that DD can play with. And im trying to convince myself that its just going to be like a rainy day indoors...at the mo its helping me not worry to much but im sure nearer the time it will loose its charm!!

Bec i will let you know how i go...
I am feeling a bit better now thou :)

prama: i was thinking, you sound like a seasoned traveler and i was wondering if you have any tips for dealing with jet lag for my DD, how do i help settle her in to a new time zone!?

hi beck,
we went to m'sia so the time difference were 2 hrs and 3 hrs both times we went there.. so it wasnt so bad... it didnt make as much difference.. the first couple of nights he was a bit unsettled but after that he was ok. the first trip we made was a day flight, and we got to KL at night and he was just so unsettled, and didnt sleep all night. but then he was only 4 mths then..

sorry, am not much help..
only thing i can suggest if possible for them to sleep thru the flight.. very hard i know..
xoxox
hope all goes well, hun

What a great source of info. We are planning to go to Canada at the end of the year and my DD will be almost two. I was tossing up whether to just buy her a seat or not. I know the extra expense would be a pain but sitting with her on my lap for 16 hours would never be fun.

Has nayone had any experience with medications to quiten their DD/DS down for the flight. I would prefer something natural as I don't like giving DD any medicine if I can help it.

Thanks

We're heading to Europe with DS in May, and as he's quite full-on and never sleeps much we are also looking at medication to sedate him a bit. Don't want to have to give it to him, but we need that option if he's really playing up and wont sleep. He's quite a "challenging" little guy! My GP suggested Polaramine as DS is too young for phenurgan (SP?). The pharmacist wouldn't even sell me Polaramine as it's not advised for children under 2, however a different pharmacist had no issue with handing it over! Another option is Brauer homeopathic Calm remedy, which is completely natural. This, however, has little effect on my DS but chances are it would be more effective on other kids.
Here is a link to another thread similar to this one with a few ideas.